- Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene", which popularised the gene-centered view of evolution and introduced the term meme into the lexicon, helping found memetics. - Albert Einstein
This German born physicist is considered one of the world's greatest thinkers in history. Not only did he shape the way people think of time, space, matter, energy, and gravity but he also was a supporter of Zionism and peaceful living. Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm Germany, and spent most of his youth living in Munich, where his family owned a small electric machinery shop. He attended schooling in Munich, which he found unimaginative and dull. - Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS, (18 May 1872 - 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, advocate for social reform, and pacifist. A prolific writer, he was also a populariser of philosophy and a commentator on a large variety of topics, ranging from very serious issues to those much less so. Continuing a family tradition in political affairs, he was a prominent anti-war activist, … - Karl Heinrich Marx
There are few economists who have become both so reviled, and admired as Marx. Indeed some would even question whether Marx deserves to be called an economist; others would prefer terms like 'bungling and failed revolutionary'. However, there are certainly few economists who read so widely and wrote so much as Marx. Whether you love or loathe Marx, we cannot deny his writings had profound influence on the twentieth century. What Did Marx Believe? - Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer and astrobiologist and a highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics, and other natural sciences. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). He is world-famous for writing popular science books and for co-writing and presenting the award-winning 1980 television series "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage", … - Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, writer, and lecturer. Twain is most noted for his novels "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", which has since been called the Great American Novel, and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". He is also known for his quotations. During his lifetime, Clemens became a friend to presidents, artists, leading industrialists, and European royalty. - Daniel Dennett
Daniel Clement Dennett (born March 28 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a prominent American philosopher whose research centers on philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. Dennett is currently the Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies and the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. - Thomas More
Thomas More Thomas More Thomas More had an education suited to a son of a gentleman, and seemed destined for the legal career mapped out by his father. Although the future held much promise for him, More was unsure of the direction he wanted his life to take. He considered becoming a priest but decided not to enter the Church because of his burning desire to have a family. - Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is a British-Indian novelist and essayist. He first achieved fame with his second novel, "Midnight's Children" (1981), which won the Booker Prize. Much of his early fiction is set at least partly on the Indian subcontinent. His style is often classified as magical realism, while a dominant theme of his work is the long, rich and often fraught story of the many connections, disruptions and migrations between the East and the West. - Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (November 11 1922 - April 11 2007) (pronounced) was an American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1969), "Cat's Cradle" (1963), and "Breakfast of Champions" (1973). - Isaac Asimov
Dr. Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920- April 6, 1992, was a Russian-born American Jewish author and biochemist, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series, which was part of one of his two major series, the Galactic Empire Series, later merged with his other famous story arc, the Robot series. - Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17 1790) was one of the most critical Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, environmentalist, and diplomat. As a scientist he was a major figure in the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As a political writer and activist he, more than anyone, invented the idea of an American nation, … - John Dewey
John Dewey (October 20, 1859 - June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, whose thoughts and ideas have been greatly influential in the United States and around the world. He, along with Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, is recognized as one of the founders of the philosophical school of Pragmatism. - Paul Kurtz
Paul Kurtz (born December 21, 1925 in Newark, New Jersey) is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), but is best known for his prominent role in the United States skeptical community. He is founder and chairman of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, formerly the "Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal" (CSICOP), the Council for Secular Humanism, the Center for Inquiry and Prometheus Books. - John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 - 8 December 1980), was an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning English songwriter, singer, musician, graphic artist, author and political activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founders of The Beatles. Lennon and Paul McCartney formed a critically acclaimed and commercially successful partnership writing songs for The Beatles and other artists. Lennon, with his cynical edge and knack for introspection, and McCartney, … - Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarcha) (July 20, 1304 - July 19, 1374) was an Italian scholar, poet, and early Renaissance humanist. Petrarch is often popularly called the "father of humanism". Based on Petrarch's works, and to a lesser extent that of Dante and Boccaccio, Pietro Bembo in the 16th century created the model for modern Italian, later endorsed by the Accademia della Crusca. - Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer , as head of one of America's leading skeptic organizations, and as a powerful activist and essayist in the service of this operational form of reason, is an important figure in American public life. ... - Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (sometimes known as Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, 1466/1469 - July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. Desiderius Erasmus was a classical scholar who wrote in a "pure" Latin style. Although he remained a Roman Catholic throughout his lifetime, he was critical of what he considered the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church. - Edward Said
Edward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and outspoken Palestinian activist. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, and is regarded as a founding figure in postcolonial theory. - H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 - August 13, 1946), better known as H. G. Wells, was an English writer best known for such science fiction novels as "The Time Machine", "The War of the Worlds", "The Invisible Man", "The First Men in the Moon" and "The Island of Doctor Moreau". He was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, and produced works in many different genres, including contemporary novels, … - Polly Toynbee
Polly Toynbee (born Mary Louisa Toynbee on December 27 1946) is a journalist and writer in the United Kingdom, and has since 1998 been a highly influential columnist for "The Guardian" newspaper. Her columns are written from a social democratic viewpoint, and thus are closer to Labour than the other major British parties. She holds up social democratic Sweden as an exemplar. She was appointed President of the British Humanist Association in July 2007 - Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. Proclaimed the "greatest of all American poets" by many foreign observers a mere four years after his death, he is viewed as the first urban poet. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and Realism, incorporating both views in his works. His works have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. - Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (born 16 December 1917) is a British science-fiction author and inventor, most famous for his novel "2001: A Space Odyssey", and for collaborating with director Stanley Kubrick on the film of the same name. Clarke is the last surviving member of what was sometimes known as the "Big Three" of science fiction, which included Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. - Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer (born July 6, 1946 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is a Jewish-Australian philosopher. He is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, and laureate professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, University of Melbourne. He specializes in practical ethics, approaching ethical issues from a preference utilitarian perspective. In addition, he holds an atheistic view of the world. - Douglas Adams
Douglas Noël Adams was an English author, comic radio dramatist, and musician. He is best known as author of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. "Hitchhiker's" began on radio, and developed into a "trilogy" of five books (which sold more than fifteen million copies during his lifetime) as well as a television series, a towel, a comic book series, a computer game and a feature film that was completed after Adams' death. - E. O. Wilson
Edward Osborne Wilson (born June 10, 1929) is an American biologist (Myrmecology, a branch of entomology), researcher (sociobiology, biodiversity), theorist (consilience, biophilia), and naturalist (conservationism). Wilson is known for his career as a scientist, his advocacy for environmentalism, and his scientific humanist ideas concerned with religious, moral, and ethical matters. - Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman CBE (born October 19, 1946) is an English writer. He is the best-selling author of "His Dark Materials", a trilogy of fantasy novels, and a number of other books. - Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945) is a British politician who became Mayor of London on the creation of the post in 2000. He was previously Leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until it was abolished in 1986. After its abolition, he became Member of Parliament for Brent East, but was quoted as saying that being in the House of Commons was not enjoyable and made little impact there. - Antony Flew
Professor Antony Garrard Newton Flew (born February 11 1923) is a British philosopher. Known for several decades as a prominent atheist, Flew first publicly expressed deist views in 2004. - Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan CBE (born June 21, 1948) is a British novelist. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"'"',, (28 August 1749 - 22 March 1832) was a German polymath. Goethe's works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, Humanism, science, and painting. His most enduring work, the two-part dramatic poem "Faust", is considered one of the peaks of world literature. Goethe's other well-known literary works include his numerous poems, the bildungsroman "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship", … - A. C. Grayling
Anthony Clifford Grayling (born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. He is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London and a supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He has a MA, a DPhil from Oxford, and is a member of the Royal Society of Arts. - Terry Pratchett
Terence David John Pratchett OBE (28 April 1948) is an English fantasy and science fiction author, best known for his "Discworld" series. Other works include the "Johnny Maxwell Trilogy" and the "Bromeliad Trilogy". He also closely collaborates on adaptations of his books, for example, computer games and plays. Pratchett started to write by the age of 13 and his first work was published commercially at the age of 15. - Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq is a bestselling author currently living in the United States. He is an outspoken critic of Islam who has written extensively on what he views as the oppressive nature of Islam and religion in general. - Francis Harry Compton Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick was born on June 8th, 1916, at Northampton, England, being the elder child of Harry Crick and Annie Elizabeth Wilkins . He has one brother, A. F. Crick , who is a doctor in New Zealand. Crick was educated at Northampton Grammar School and Mill Hill School, London. - Erich Fromm
Erich Pinchas Fromm (March 23, 1900 - March 18, 1980) was an internationally renowned Jewish-German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, and humanistic philosopher. - Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 - December 4, 1993) was an American composer, guitarist, singer, film director, and satirist. In his more than 30-year long career, Frank Zappa established himself as one of the most prolific and distinctive musician-composer-band leaders of his era. Zappa worked in almost every musical genre and wrote music for rock bands, jazz ensembles, synthesisers and symphony orchestra, as well as radiophonic works constructed from pre-recorded, … - Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights campaigner, and perhaps the most influential exponent of the Romantic movement in France. In France, Hugo's literary reputation rests on his poetic and dramatic output. Among many volumes of poetry, "Les Contemplations" and "La Légende des siècles" stand particularly high in critical esteem, and Hugo is sometimes identified as the greatest French poet. - Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley, FRS (June 22, 1887 - February 14, 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, author, humanist and internationalist, known for his popularisations of science in books and lectures. He was the first director of UNESCO, founding member of the World Wildlife Fund, and was knighted in 1958. Huxley came from the distinguished Huxley family. His brother was the writer Aldous Huxley, and half-brother a fellow biologist and Nobel laureate, … - Clarence Darrow
Clarence Seward Darrow (April 18, 1857 Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio - March 13, 1938 Chicago) was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Bobby Franks (1924) and defending John T. Scopes in the so-called "Monkey" Trial (1925), in which he opposed the famous statesman William Jennings Bryan.
|
| |